A tale of two Jeffs...

Kimi sent me copies of a few pictures she had.
I won't post them all, they are mine. Get your own.
Just because my kids are sooo much cuter than yours....don't be a hater.

Anyways, here are the two Jeffs.

[caption id="attachment_246" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="2 Jeffs. Xmas party '08"][/caption]

The Graveyard Book wins the Newbery Medal

Ok, so two posts in one day. I don't do that often anymore.
But today's exciting news....
You all know by now that my favorite author is Neil Gaiman. By a longshot. It's soooo not even close.
Anyways, his newest book, The Graveyard Book, just won the Newbery Medal!

Freakin' A Awesome. For those that don't know what the Newbery Medal is, it basically means that the American Library Association thinks it is badass!
Their, somewhat less excitable, explanation is "The Newbery Medal honors the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."
In other words, this is a badass book that your child should read. (And their parents as well.) It's THAT good!

For the 80's gamer in all of us

I am {almost} speechless.

I was reading the things that I likes to reads and came across THIS

If you were alive at any point in your life, you should click the link and participate.
You won't regret it.
Unless you do.

Katt Williams: The Pimp Chronicles: Pt. 1

The joys of Netflix streaming movies.
This morning I watched Katt Williams: The Pimp Chronicles: Pt. 1

I won't post clips but I am sure there are some on YouTube. SO DAMN FUNNY. The ending is the best part.

A new-ish dinner idea...

Maxine and I came up with this recipe based on something I tried for the family Christmas party this year. It was originally an appetizer but we modified it to make it a dinner. (And it was freakin amazing. - Probably because Maxine made it.)

Anyways, here is what you need:
Rice
Bacon
Brown Sugar
Red Chili Sauce
Mayo
Water Chestnuts
Crunchy Chow Mein Noodles

Stay with me here....

1. Start by making your sauce. I don't generally measure, but the ratio should work.
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup chili sauce
You can play around with the ratio depending on if you want it sweet or spicy.

2. Cut the uncooked bacon in half and wrap each half piece around a water chestnut.

3. Place the wrapped water chestnuts on a lined cookie sheet, drizzle with sauce, and bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes. (Depending on how crispy you want your bacon.

4. Once that is in the oven, start your rice, and wait...

To serve, place the bacon-wrapped water chestnuts over the rice, drizzle with a little extra sauce, top with Chow Mein noodles.

Freakin yummy. We served it with green beans but it would be good with pretty much any green veggie. (Broccoli anyone?)

Barack Obama is my president

I took the day off from work today.
Partially to watch the Inauguration.
Watching President Obama give his opening address was inspiring.
I hope that he can deliver on most, if not all, of his plans for an improved America.

I love my country. I love what it could (and should) be. I have hope.

Please do not let me down, Mr. President.

The death of an old friend...

Today I was trying to unplug the playstation so the kids could take it to the game room. I was backwards in my favorite chair, leaning over the back.
The very same kind of pose I would have hollered at the kids for.
Then, tragedy struck. My fat ass broke my favorite chair.
My lovely, big, squishy, brown recliner that I spent years bugging my dad for is now a heap of broken tears.

Please join me in a moment of silence.

Coraline...am I obsessed?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_PC4ujP9yg&eurl=http://www.google.com/reader/view/&feature=player_embedded

I think I have said (at least 42 million times) that Neil Gaiman is my favorite author. Coraline is coming out soon and I can't hardly stand it. (Even though the previews contain a multitude of things that were not in the book and that does not bode well for the film.)
I have been watching the Neverwhere mini-series that the BBC did in the 90s. The kids think it is exceptionally strange but I love it. The ability to get obscure things like this makes me love Netflix all the more.

Some reasons why I love YouTube...

Some things that you find on there are just soo priceless.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwuIIsDjgZg

Cerra pointed this one out to me:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehOE0WP-Ngc

I also found an assload of fantastic Christmas videos this morning that are fantastic. (By badass bands like Sixpense None The Richer, Jars of Clay, etc) But I will wait till next year for those.

Ahhhh how sweet

So I am sure everyone already knows that I have the most wonderful husband in the world. They should start  a factory where they manufacture Marks, just so everyone else could be as lucky as me. So what brought on this particular moment of sloshy gooshyness? I will tell you. Most people know I have really bad shoulders. Mark helps me so much. He helps me to undress  most nights. You are thinking duh any husband will help his wife get UNDRESSED. But he also does my hair. Ha got you there didn't I. He flat irons it and the other day he put curlers in it for me, even though he thinks he is not good at it.  Like I said, he is wonderful. Don't you wish you had a Mark of your very own? Too bad, he is all mine.

Better Living through better practices

This year I am going to focus on some more meaningful topics than I have in the past. (Don't worry, the random stuff will still be there too) With the troubling economy, prices everywhere are going up and people are losing their jobs. Even people with job security are feeling the tough times.
The perfect first steps would be to analyze your situation and come up with a good plan. Even those that already have a working budget would benefit from a good, thorough review.
There is a class starting up over at Better Budgeting that would probably be good for most of my readers. (I am already signed up.) Michelle, the owner, also publishes a monthly newsletter that I have been reading for several months. She knows what she is talking about and I recommend her course.

This round of classes start on Monday but she is accepting late registrations all week. (It is a once a week e-mail class)

Crisis averted...

You can all relax. I found a great deal on a video card from Newegg. It should be here sometime while I am at work today.
It was touch and go there for a minute, but I think I'm gonna pull through. Thank you for your support.

Also, I am working on some new features for the blog, some ideas to post actual worthwhile content. Now that work will start slowing down, I should have time to think about other things.
Stay tuned!

And now for something completely different....

Every once in a while I hope to post something useful, meaningful, or at least not complete BS.

This...is...not...that....day.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX3aheU0qis

Random thought from the shower...

While I was in the shower this morning I was contemplating if I would rather be deaf or blind and what kind of job I would have in either case.

Then, the thought occurred to me...How do deaf people control the volume of their voice? If I am already a loud talker and I went deaf, would I shout alot? Hmm. I don't know.

As an aside, I figure if I was deaf, I could still be a writer. Although I would go insane quickly without music.
If I was blind I would probably become an alcoholic and die. I couldn't think of anything but "blind taste-tester." That could be fun...

The way of the dodo...

There are many things that a person will never try or do.
There are many things that a person says they will do but don't.

Which is worse? Being unwilling to try things or not following through?

Right now I am pretty pissed off about someone telling me they would do something and then screwing me at the last minute. I thought I would be over it today but I am not.
I guess the questions above are really a matter of context.
There are certain things that a person *should* never try, but once you take those out of the equation, shouldn't you want to try EVERYTHING?
I know I do.

What do you think?

For those on Facebook

Ok, so I have had a couple of questions on the notes that pop up on Facebook. They appear because I have my blog posts sent there. You should read them at MarknMaxine.com. They often won't make sense on Facebook because it shortens them and strips pictures and videos.

Oh yeah, in case I haven't mentioned it, I am badass and currently the second biggest loser I know. I only bring it up because it probably won't last.

Where is the standard new year post?

Ok, so after taking some shit from Cerra for not posting frequently enough I thought I would break the silence.
I'm not one for resolutions or anything like that so don't expect any. I am too much of a spontaneous goober to plan that far ahead.
My video card blew up on Friday. It makes me terribly sad. It means I am restricted to only using the laptop for the foreseeable future. (Until I convince Maxine that THIS is a good buy.)

Please observe a moment of silence for my video card. It has gone to a better place. (It is sitting on top of my keyboard)